Predicting cancer risk in Veterans using genes and lifetime exposures
Official title: DEvelopment of cancer predictive models informed by geneTic and EnviRonMental exposures and their interactions to Improve caNcer screening and prEvention strategies (DETERMINE)
Funded at VA Boston Health Care System · NIH-11291852 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A VA research project aims to improve cancer screening and prevention for Veterans by combining genetic data with lifetime environmental exposures.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Boston Health Care System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 2025 |
| Project end | January 1, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2027 |
| NIH project number | 5I01CX002945-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11291852 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Veterans enrolled in the VA system, particularly those at risk for prostate, lung, or bladder cancer.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without these cancer types or without exposure histories may see limited direct benefit.
What this research studies
This project plans to study prostate, lung, and bladder cancers in Veterans, looking at how past exposures like Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune groundwater, cigarette smoke, air pollution, and radon interact with inherited genetics. Researchers will collect germline and somatic DNA data and connect it to cancer risk and mutation patterns. The goal is to build personalized risk models that reflect both a person’s genes and their exposure history, informing better screening and prevention for the VA population. The work is large in scale and emphasizes translating complex genomic and exposure data into clinically useful risk information. The study will be conducted through the VA Boston Health Care System with collaboration across the VA network.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could enable more accurate cancer risk prediction for Veterans and guide personalized screening and prevention strategies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous similar approaches have shown promise in combining genetics and exposures to refine risk, though this integrated, large-scale effort is novel.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Boston Health Care System
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Pyarajan, Saiju — VA Boston Health Care System
- Study coordinator: Pyarajan, Saiju
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.